Aside from the two enemies Iran and Israel facing each other in this new phase of the Middle East conflict, there is a third, even more important protagonist that bears the responsibility of widening the wound or extinguishing the fuse: the United States. And the balance of helping his Israeli ally without making the situation worse is very complicated.
For now, Washington has clearly signaled that it is ready to defend Israel against the hostile Iran by launching its aircraft along with those of the United Kingdom to shoot down the Iranian drones. According to Tel Aviv, the operation was almost a complete success.
The second, equally important front is that of words, and here US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been fully committed and made this clear His country is not seeking an escalation of the conflict but he is prepared to defend his ally to the extent necessary.
“We do not seek conflict with Iran, but we will not hesitate to act to protect our forces and support the defense of Israel,” Austin said. “U.S. forces remain capable of protecting both its forces and those of its partners in the region, providing greater support for Israel’s defense, and improving regional stability.”
The White House therefore insists that it has no intention of carrying out further attacks but that it “will not hesitate to respond if necessary”.
“We condemn these reckless and unprecedented attacks by Iran and its allies and call on Iran to immediately stop any further attacks, including by its allied forces, and to reduce tensions,” the Defense Ministry said in its statement.
In a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, Austin echoed US President Joe Biden’s words “to reaffirm for the second time the strong support of the United States for the defense of Israel in the face of Iran’s unprecedented attack,” stating that Israel “can count on (their) full support to defend itself against any future attack by Iran and its regional proxies.”